Customer Reviews

Mambo Kings

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

It's amazing that a soundtrack this rich and diverse came from such a terrible movie. The world may have already forgotten that turkey (based on a beautiful novel by Oscar Hijuelos) but this energetic collection of of sizzling mambo standards will enrich anyone's music collection.

The liner notes read like a Who's Who of Latino music. Everyone from the legendary Celia Cruz and Tito Puente to Los Lobos and Linda Ronstadt make contributions to the CD and pay homage to the great tradition of musical expression in Latino culture.

Even Antonio Banderas get's into the act, singing the film version of "Bella Maria de mi Alma" with enough passion to make you wonder if he's made the right career choice. The three tracks by Celia Cruz are reason enough to purchase this disk, everything else is just gravy!

The original release of this album was a five star. I was originally attempting to replace a lost album of the same title which is no longer being distributed. 1.The remix of a perfectly good Ran Kan Kan was very disappointing. If you can't improve on an original, then leave the song alone. 2.Unfortunately someone decided that two versions of Beautiful Maria was not enough and decided to add a third and badly executed track. The worst part of this new release is that the two new tracks are at the front of the album so that I have to manually skip through them in order to really enjoy the album. Sounds like someone was trying to further their career by attaching themselves to an orginal hot selling album. If you can get your hands on the original release, do that instead!

Superb songs arranged by the talented musician/arranger from P.R. Ray Santos,performed by The King Tito Puente, The Queen Celia Cruz,The Legendary Linda Ronstadt, etc., and a new remix of Tito's Ran Kan Kan by Pablo Flores with vocals by the powerful voice of Olga Tanon make this cd a must buy for those who love latin music.

Great Album But......they left out Celia Cruz singing La Dicha Mia again during the end Credits....This reprise was much longer and Much more improvisational!!!!!!! She really rocks it on at the end and was one of the reasons I looked forward to the album....and it is missing on the soundtrack. A bitter disapointment !!!!!!!

Good selection of music. Exciting and passionate performances. Antonias singing Maria has limited range but with a clear voice and passionate phrasing. Stunning recording with Tito. Would give 5 stars except for 3 renditions of Maria, what was the point of this? Listen to Tea for Two on the way to work and you will dance into the office in a happy mood!

this is a awesome soundtrack, it is fun and enjoyable to listen to. the best songs on this cd are all of them. if you have not listened to this cd yet then i recommend you do

Thus CD was just nwhat I wanted. I was worried it was out of print, but Amazon saved the day.

I loved most of the music on this cd. My favorite song is Beautiful Maria of My Soul which was nominated for an academy award for best song back in 1992. I believe it lost out to A Whole New World from the movie Aladin. Overall a good solid cd.

If this music doesn't get the heart pumping and the feet moving, check for pulse.

okay... so people say that the movie was terrible.. i haven't seen it before and i don't think i ever will... but to miss this cd is a sin! this is wonderful, wonderful collection of songs that it's just amazing that it actually came from the same cd! for those of you who are concern with the well-known mambo stars need not fear... they are well represented here with the likes of celia cruz, tito puente, los lobos etc. but what's really amazing is the fact that all the music contained here are simply the best of the best there is out there. my favourite song would be perfidia, which was performed by linda ronstadt. it's a beautifully rendered performance and i would have bought the cd even if the other songs sucks... which i'm happy to say they're not. another plus point for the soundtrack is the fact that antonio banderas sang the song bella maria de mi alma. surprisingly he has the talent to actually sing, which came as a surprise fer me. on the whole this album is worth buying as it gives you the most bang fer the buck.